Saturday, June 1, 2013

आखें बंद करू तो बस तुम्हारी यादें हैं
तुम्हारी ही आखों से मैं रंग देखा करती हूँ
हंसती तो अब भी मैं सबके साथ हूँ
पर
तुम्हारे ही खमॊश सपनों में मुस्कुराती रहती हूँ
न किसी सितारे की चमक कम हुई है
न किसी फूल की खुशबु धुंधलाई है
तुम्हारी ही धुन गुनगुनाती हूँ
वही दुप्पट्टा अभी भी ओढ़ा करती हूँ
अब भी तुम्हारे सर का दर्द मेरी आखें नाम कर देता है
मेरे हर आसू में तुम बदल का एक कतरा घोल देते हो
जानते हो तुम भी
आओगे जो अबकी बारी
तुम्हारे कंधे पे ही सारे बादल बरस जाने दूंगी
भीग हम दोनों जायेंगे

Saturday, May 18, 2013

बेसुरा राग

संसार का नियम भी निराला है
सब उल्टा का पुल्टा कर डाला है

जेब हो जितना खाली उतना खंग्लाया जाता है
सोने में मिला जो जितना पीतल उतना चमकाया जाता है
राग जितना हो बेसुरा उतना बजाया जाता है
प्याला हो जितना खाली उतना छलकाया जाता है
यार जितना अजीज़ हो जाए उतना ठुकराया जाता है
प्रेमी जितना करीब हो उतना भुलाया जाता है

बैठे जब छज्जे के नीचे
तोलते जब जीवन का मोल हैं
फटी जेब में सोने के सिक्के तलाशे जाते हैं
मल्हार सुन राग के नशे में जोगी बनते जाते हैं
साथ चाहते उसी यार का, प्रेमी मिलन को तड़पे जाते हैं

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

दौर बदल जाता है

गुनगुनाते थे अल्फाज़ उनके
हम भी मासूम हुआ करते थे
पांव रखते थे चांदनी की रेत पर
रुई की गुडिया से खेला करते थे
दौर बदल जाता है
गुड़िया मैली हो गई है
उनकी नज़रें भी बूढ़ी हो चली हैं
गुफ्तगू खामोशी मे तब्दील होती जाती है
हम भी अब भीड़ के शोर मे सुकून तलाशा करते हैं.

कोयल

दूर कहीं  आम के पेड़ पर
कौवों के झुण्ड के बीच एक कोयल रहा करती थी
कर्कश आवाजों के बीच मुस्कुराकर कूका करती थी
सभी हैं रंग से समान
मन भी एक ही जैसा होगा 
मन में मासूम ख्याल बसाये
सभी से हँस के मिला करती थी
साथ दाना चुगने जाते थे 
शिकारी के जाल से एक दूसरे को बचाते थे
कोयल अब उनमे एक थी
गुनगुनाते हुए इधर उधर फुदकती थी
जानती कहाँ थी बेचारी कोयल   
कौवे नीयत से होते ही दोगले हैं
उसके पीछे मंद मंद मुस्काते थे
झूठा नाम लेके उसको छेड़ते थे
देखा एक दिन कोयल ने उनको
साथ तालाब जाना छूटा
कोमल मन का सपना टूटा
किसी ने उसको रोते हुए न देखा
चुप्पी को कमज़ोरी सोचा
मजबूर नहीं थी कोयल
एक एक आँसू उसकी माफ़ी थी

Monday, May 6, 2013

खो गए

छाँटते रहे कारवाँ में, 
दोस्त खुद जैसा मिल न सका.
हँसे किसी के रंग पे, मुह सिकोडा किसी के ढंग पे.
साथी ढूंढ़ते थे दुनिया की भीड़ मे, खो हम खुद ही गए हैं.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Innocence is important than cowardice


Yesterday I had a long discussion about Child Sexual Abuse which made me realize that there is very little awareness about this issue. Little indeed, none of my friends knew the influence of this epidemic.  My discussion partner is highly educated, holding a post graduate degree from one of the elite institute in India and is currently employed in a multinational company. This is a highly neglected topic that people don't discuss about, when the need to do so is the highest. 

The discussion started when I made him aware that April is recognized as CSA awareness month. This shows how little we know and care about the issue. People of our age consider this topic out of their reach as we are not parenting any children yet and hence this is not our cup of tea. There exists official data projecting that 53% of Indian children are abused sexually and the key to keep in mind is that these are only reported cases. With 15% of Indian population aged below 7 and the average age of 50 % of Indians below 25, it can be safely assumed that 20-25% of Indian population can be considered as composed of children. This simply means that two of eight people you see are children and one of them is being sexually abused. Hence if you are living in vicinity of at-least 8 people then you have with you someone who is being or had been sexually abused. This data makes all of us responsible for this issue. 

After recognizing our responsibility let us start with what is, how to know and how to stop CSA. 
Child sexual abuse or child molestation is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. This is the definition given in Wikipedia and I think it covers everything. CSA is done by not only adults but by adolescent. It will not be a psycho looking old stalker but anyone, mostly someone you can never point a finger to. There is absolutely no one you can say is incapable of such a horrible crime. Children abused lose their innocence. Sexuality becomes their way of interaction and they abuse others, never aware of what they are doing is inappropriate. Till they attain the age of understanding, the damage is already done. Abused children can start a chain of events that destroys their innocence and ruins other lives. I read a first person narrative some time back from a lady and her experiences of CSA. She said that she was abused for 6 years by her cousin, when she was 6 till she was 12. For her touching private parts, other’s as well as her own was normal. Till 9 she was the only child in household and whenever met this cousin of hers, he touched her all over and she accepted that. This became her way of dealing with her younger sister when she was born till she was 3. She abused her own sister. Was this her fault or her cousins? He might be a victim himself. 

Most children are abused by their own grandfathers, uncles, aunts, cousins, sibling even father. Why? Is s3x hyped in our society? Yes it is. People going through s3xual frustration look upon children as the easiest option for their satisfaction. It is sick, indeed it is. When we hear the word s3x with our family we suddenly see an elephant in the room. It restricts our sight. We are never able to see how an 8 yr. old in our vicinity is responding to it. In the movie Monsoon Wedding we see how a very young girl tells her family nonchalantly what all she knows about kiss. We need to be more vigilant of a child's interaction with elders. We have to come to terms with fact that today children are much more aware of sensuality issues than we can imagine. With nickelodeon cartoons showing a 10-year-old Kenichi in Ninja Hattori dreaming of his lover Yumeko taking a bath. Shin-Chan peeking under any skirt he sees, we are giving them enough sultry exposure anyway.

The most difficult question lies in how to know a child is being abused. Many people including me advocate of education children about good touch or bad touch. The counter argument I was given was that you are yourself making children conscious of their bodies and sexuality. With information gathering tools increasing around us, we have average age when a child searches for word s3x online down to 8 years. Our children will be more curious than we were and there will be enough ways(or people) to satisfy their curiosity in the wrong way. The argument is valid, but do we have the luxury of asking abusers to stop being sick. No we can’t afford that. For many people the first thought when a child tells them that he/she doesn’t like certain uncle/auntie/cousin is that the child is being manner less and should be given a lecture on how we should respect elders and abide by their wishes. When a child complains of being touched, we try to deny it by galti se hua hoga. I have just one question. Do you remember any time you were touched sexually by mistake? I am sure you do not. No one touches a child wrongly by mistake. It’s the incarnation of their monstrous desire. 

Government can make laws to punish offenders but is it that we want? I hope not. Punishing a criminal post crime is no solution. This is not a theft of material possessions. You can never return a child's innocence by punishing the offender (if you actually recognize them). We need to prevent anything like such from happening. 
Educating you child/sister/brother, getting out of presumptions and confrontation are the only way a child can be protected. You just can’t ask people to stop being sick. No you can’t.  

Monday, April 15, 2013

Still Indifferent ??


Persistent guy 4:42 PM
Hi
Random Girl 4:42 PM
yello
Persistent guy 4:42 PM
hello :)
wassup?
Random Girl 4:43 PM
nothing 
blogging 
Persistent guy 4:43 PM
did u go to meet MI team?
hmm
Random Girl 4:43 PM
no
Persistent guy 4:43 PM
hmm...
whom did they nominate frm STF??
Random Girl 4:43 PM
no one 
Persistent guy 4:44 PM
oh 
Random Girl 4:44 PM
you know we never go anywhere without our guns and it would create panic 
Persistent guy 4:44 PM
:P
yea..yea
but i didnt knw dat
now got it :D
Random Girl 4:45 PM
now you know 
Persistent guy 4:45 PM
hmm.....
one doubt
still indiff feeling towards me? or is my persistence doing any good? :P
Random Girl 4:46 PM
yes and no
Persistent guy 4:47 PM
elaborate
please
Random Girl 4:47 PM
i dont know what do you think by not beng indifferent 
so i am confused 
Persistent guy 4:47 PM
haha :)
Random Girl 4:47 PM
i acknowledge that i know you 
Persistent guy 4:47 PM
oh!!! 
great
Random Girl 4:47 PM
but i dont miss you 
so i dont know 
Persistent guy 4:48 PM
i dnt expect dat...
everyone comes in life to teach us somethng.. no one stays.. other than parents and ur off springs...
so, i dnt expect u to miss me.. for dat matter
not even my best frnd to miss me always.. may be sometimes 
thoughts of mine..dnt knw how others will take ot
:)
Random Girl 4:50 PM
so what does not indifferent means 
do tell me please 
Persistent guy 4:51 PM
why? i should give it as home work.. for u to figuer out.. i am already explaining a lot here..u knw :P
Random Girl 4:51 PM
o palease 
i ll never go sit thinking about whether i am indifferent to you or not 
i guess that means i am indifferent 
Persistent guy 4:52 PM
yea.. u got the point.. 
no need to xplain then :)
Random Girl 4:52 PM
but the fact that i dont want to think about indifference to you might mean that i am not in diferrent 
so i am confused again 
u can choose your asnwer
i am going to be like i was 
Persistent guy 4:54 PM
hmm.. the fact dat u dnt want to think if u are indiff or not to me... can have 2 reasons.. either u dnt care..watever!!
or u dnt think like dat way..and think of it as a waste of time...there is a 3rd option also.. its a mix of both 
Random Girl 4:55 PM
i ll go with 3rd
i dont want to hurt you 
u are a nice guy 
but then i am like yeah whatever 
Persistent guy 4:55 PM
hmm...i thought so.. u r becoming predictable..u knw
hehe :)
neway i figured it out earlier then
Random Girl 4:56 PM
so i have to become less predictable 
okay 
so from now on you are my best friend 
Persistent guy 4:56 PM
no.. i didnt say dat
haha :)
awesome
Random Girl 4:56 PM
yeah 
but there is a twist 
we are on a break 
:D
Persistent guy 4:57 PM
oho!!! frnds dnt take breaks.. may be they dnt talk for months or years..and still be the same whn they talk again..
but they dnt take breaks
dats a misconception
i guess
Random Girl 4:58 PM
we are unconventioanal 
we ll take break 
Persistent guy 4:58 PM
:D
hmm..  so wat to do in a break.. Ms. Unconventional
i dnt knw
Random Girl 4:59 PM
u dont talk much 
if you take a break 
Persistent guy 4:59 PM
we dnt talk much..otherwise also..
Random Girl 4:59 PM
yeah because we are on a break 
Persistent guy 4:59 PM
so, being unconventional, we shuld talk :P
Random Girl 4:59 PM
God ..... u forget so soon
we ll 
Persistent guy 4:59 PM
hmm...
Random Girl 5:00 PM
once this break is over 
and we should not be too experimenting at once or we would become lady gaga then 
would you mind if i paste this chat on my blog with your name hidden
i ll take your silence as yes 
Persistent guy 5:01 PM
no..plz..
Random Girl 5:01 PM
thank you 
Persistent guy 5:02 PM
i havent even seen ur blog
noooo
Random Girl 5:02 PM
yeah its a private blog 
no one read that **** 
its just for me to remember 
so thank you for permission 
Persistent guy 5:03 PM
why to remember my words??
Random Girl 5:03 PM
whenever i ll think og giving up on someone 
of*
i ll think about you 
Persistent guy 5:04 PM
good.. i am of some use to you... :P i guess
yea..yea.. use it
Random Girl 5:04 PM
so finally that means i am not that indifferent